Pirates -- the swashbuckling sort -- are pretty great. Videogames are pretty great too; the good ones, anyway. For some unfathomable reason, these two things don’t come together as frequently as I would like. Fortunately, Piranha Bytes, creator of the Gothic franchise, is aiming to rectify this oversight.

Risen 2: Dark Waters maintains the team’s lineage of traditional, PC RPGs, but eschews the traditional fantasy fare in favor of something far more piratical, and, perhaps, a bit more accessible, without sacrificing the depth and skill trees associated with the genre.